The evening was quiet. Sarah was sitting on James' lap in the living room, reading the same book together. She read faster than him, so she would caress the side of his face or run her fingers through his hair the time she could turn to the next page.
A vigorous knock on the door surprised them; they were not expecting any visitor. Aberdeen opened the door, but was out of sight from the couple.
Their quiet time together was interrupted when 3 men entered the living room, holding out pistols toward them. They walked around the couch and a man grabbed Sarah by her arm. The second men held James' shoulder as the third one punched him several time. They could not identify those intruders since they were masks over their faces. James tried to fight back but he was thrown on the ground and kicked in the chest and face.
"Look at what we have here, a fine british wrench," the man holding Sarah spat, as he caressed the side of her face, not letting go of her arm.
She tried to break free, but his grip was too strong. He slapped her face hard and she felt to the ground. He grabbed her by her hair and forced her to look up. Blood was running from her lower lip.
"What do you want? Let her go!" James said as the two men were holding him down on the ground.
The two men were struggling to hold him still. One of them got a rope out of his pocket and tied James's wrist together. The other one held out a knife to his neck.
"If any of you loyalists make any sound, you are not better than dead."
"You, bastard torries."
"You know, I kind of like to see you on your knees in front of me. We may as well enjoy it, what do you say, Sarah?"
She jumped as she heard that man say her name. The couple were well known in the city, but this attack seemed personal. Could it be only because James refused to vote the levy? The levy would still have passed without his vote anyway.
"Come on Sarah, you know what to do," the man said as he still held her hair, placing her head in front of his crotch.
The only thing she thought about was to kick him as hard as she could directly in the crotch. She was not thinking straight, but her fist left and the man released his grip on her hair. She had second to stand up and try running to get some help. Unfortunately, she was not fast enough and had not kicked hard enough. The man grabbed her even stronger by both arms. She winced under his grip.
"That's how you want to play? I'll show you who is in charge now."
The man led Sarah toward the dining room, adjacent to the living room. He bended her against the wooden table, pressing his body to hers. She could not move and could not see him since he was behind her. She turned her head toward the living room and locked her eyes in her husband's. He was trying as hard as he could to break free, but was held at gunpoint.
"You want your wimp of a husband to watch?" the man said as he lifted up her skirts.
She stopped fighting as she thought it would only make what was to come more painful. She was going to get rape in her own house, she could not believe it. She could not hear anything, she felt like she had left her body. She saw James was now gagged, probably because he had been yelling too much.
She felt his hands caressing her legs. She closed her eyes when she heard his belt felt to the floor. Her palms were pressing firmly on the table. The man forced her legs apart and gripped her hips. She opened her eyes, but she was not seeing anything. Tears felt down her cheeks as she felt this disgusting man's member ready to enter her from behind.
She heard a gunshot. Jeremiah was in the stables when he saw those men entered. He went back to grab the pistol he left there and entered silently the house. He saw Aberdeen down on the floor in the entryway, but heard struggles in the living room. He shot one of the men holding James and punched the second one hard enough he felt to the ground. He freed James of his restrains and both men came toward the third one. He was badly beaten by Jeremiah while James rushed to Sarah's side. The poor girl had not move, she was still laying on the table, he eyes focusing on nothing in particular. James helped her to stand up and held her tightly against his body, caressing her back.
"Are you all right, dear?"
Her whole body was shaking. She managed to look at him, but said nothing.
"What happened here?" said Mr Smith. He was living in front of their house but crossed the street when he heard the gunshot. He saw two men down in the living room, one dead and one unconscious, and the third one still had his pants down. Justice would be delivered to these assailants. In court, their only argument was that they wanted loyalists out of the town. Later, the Wilkins would learn that several of families were attacked that night, robbed, raped, houses burned down.
A couple of days later, he was walking home from work and saw a recruitment add for the loyalist militia. The war was coming toward Charles Town and he felt he had no choice but to do his part. He knew he was loyal to king and country, and those rebels left him no choice but to defend his beliefs. He then enrolled in the loyalist militia.